Sam's Story Living with Feline Leukemia

A young male Siamese cat appeared in my front yard in August of 2008 and before I could get to him, he ran into the woods. 

He lived in the woods for seven months. I rescued the Siamese tomcat in March 2009. The Siamese tomcat that I named Sam survived fights with other cats, and the bitter winter when temperatures dipped below zero. He also survived the spring floods only to be diagnosed with feline aids and leukemia. Yes, the house cat named Sam survived the elements; however, now he must fight for his life.

Sam went to the veterinarian’s office for his routine checkup, shots, and his neuter. My husband called from the veterinarian’s office and told me that Sam’s blood test was positive for feline immunodeficiency virus - Cat-FIV and Feline Leukemia. - Cat-FeLV.

The veterinarian recommended that we put Sam to sleep. He pointed out that while Sam had no symptoms, he felt that the severity of the virus was devastating and that Sam's health would fail quickly, Sam would suffer and we would have heartache. My husband and I discussed Sam and decided that we would get a second opinion. There was a possibility that Sam’s former master gave him the immunization for feline Leukemia. If that were the case Sam’s blood test would show a false positive.

We brought Sam home and isolated him from the other cats. Sam resides in my office. He helps me to write, and file and he organizes my pens and papers. In the afternoon, he sleeps on my lap. I take breaks to play with him on the floor. Sometimes he sits by the windows and calls out to the neighborhood cats. He will turn and give me those sad eyes. He wants to play with his friends, but sadly I must say no. Sam will never go outside.

Sam tested positive for feline aids and leukemia on April 15, 2009. My veterinarian did not think Sam would live a month. It is now eight months since Sam was diagnosed and he has put on weight and has lean muscles. He purrs so loudly you can hear him from across the room. 

My Sam is alive today and he is symptom-free. This makes me believe that feline aids and leukemia is not death sentence for symptom-free cats.

Update June 2010 

Sam went to see a new Veterinarian who retested him for Feline Leukemia and Aids. The test showed that Sam did not have Feline Leukemia but he did test positive for feline immunodeficiency virus - Cat-FIV.  Sam had survived Feline Leukemia however he would live the rest of his life with a weakened immune system.

Sam the Homeless Cat is Rescued

In August of 2008, a car pulled up in front of my house, the door opened, and out came a Siamese cat. The car then backed up the hill and drove away.

The Siamese cat was left sitting on the side of the road. I ran outside to get him, but he was frightened and ran into the woods. I looked for him but could not find him, and gave up hope when winter came. Then on July 1st, 2009, Sam showed up on my front lawn. He was skin and bones and appeared as though he had been in a fight. The homeless cat that I named Sam, choose so I rescued him from a life of hardship.

In order to be successful in trapping I needed to develop a routine with the homeless cat. I developed trust with Sam by feeding him outside twice a day. I was able to lure him into the shed where there was shelter and straw bedding.

After three weeks, Sam would allow me to stand two feet from him while he ate his food. This was an indication that Sam trusted me. Sam grew to depend on me for food, water, and shelter. Trust and dependency meant that it was time to try to rescue him by trapping him.

Two days before trapping, I set the trap next to the food station. I did this to help Sam to get used to the trap. At first, he stared at the trap for a day and would not go near his food station. He finally gave in to his hunger pains and went to eat the food. On the day of trapping, I put out no food in the morning. I communicated with my neighbors to refrain from feeding Sam if he came to visit them. One hour before the evening feeding I lined the trap with heavy newspaper and then ran a trail of tuna fish down the middle of the trap. The tuna was stinky and it would attract Sam to the trap and lure him into the trap.

Sam arrived at the scene at 5:50 and promptly went into the trap. He ate the tuna, licked his paws, and walked out of the trap. Sometimes this happens, but do not be alarmed the trap door will close when the body weight is on the trigger. I successfully trapped Sam within three days.

When the trap door closed, I ran out to cover the entire trap with a blanket. Since Sam was trapped on a weekend, I could not take him directly to the veterinarians, so I brought him inside and placed his trap in the middle of my enclosed sun porch. The porch was equipped with a kitty condominium, cat toys, a food bowl, a water fountain, a cat bed, and a fleece shirt with my scent on it.

The room was a perfect area to rehabilitate Sam. I did not open the trap immediately, instead, I waited an hour before letting Sam out into the room. Sam emerged from the trap and proceeded to climb the walls. He was frantic for about five minutes before he settled down to eat. I talked to him in a soft voice and told him he was a good boy and that he was safe from harm. Sam allowed me to rescue him in the trap because he trusted me.